Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a heat pipe and to a method of manufacturing this heat pipe. It more specifically aims at a miniature heat pipe capable of performing heat transfers inside of an integrated circuit chip or of a stack of integrated circuit chips.
Description of the Related Art
A heat pipe is a device capable of transferring heat from a hot surface to a cold surface, by using liquid-vapor phase changes of a fluid.
Conventionally, a heat pipe comprises a tight enclosure enclosing a fluid. In operation, one side of the enclosure is placed in the vicinity of a hot source, for example, an electronic device which is desired to be cooled, and an opposite side of the enclosure is placed in the vicinity of a cold source, for example, a heat sink. In the hot area of the heat pipe, the fluid vaporizes, thus storing heat. The vapor thus formed diffuses through the enclosure all the way to the cold area of the heat pipe, and then condenses in the cold area, thus releasing heat. Once in the liquid state, the fluid returns to the hot area of the heat pipe by capillary action along the enclosure walls, and the cycle resumes.
Existing heat pipes are capable of substantially uniformly cooling a relatively large surface, for example, the whole surface of an integrated circuit chip or of a stack of integrated circuit chips. However, due to their rather significant bulk, existing heat pipes are not capable of transferring heat between specific local areas of an integrated circuit chip or of a stack of integrated circuit chips.
A miniature heat pipe, which is easy to form and may for example be used to remove heat from local hot areas of an integrated circuit chip or of a stack of integrated circuit chips is thus needed.